Posts tagged Skull

This year I’ve been trying to add more summer basics to my wardrobe, and after browsing countless online and high street stores, House of Fraser have really come up trumps. Though House of Fraser stock a lot of premium brands, they also sell a wide range of more affordable brands, so you can add staple pieces to your wardrobe on a budget, that can be worn year in year out.

House of Fraser recently challenged me to pick some summer items to style, up to the value of £30. I thought the best way to go for this challenge would be simple and versatile – things that could be dressed up or down and paired with different things to create different looks – so I opted for this plain Jane Norman Maxi Vest Dress, and a cute little Ziba 3D Skull Bracelet.

The dress is made from a light jersey fabric, so is very cool and comfortable, and the vest section is lined so you don’t have to wear a bra on hot summer days. I think the dress looks great as it is, but it also looks amazing with a sparkly cropped jacket and clutch for a glamorous evening look. This is currently discounted from £20 to £12, which is incredibly cheap for such a lovely piece.

I chose the Ziba Skull 3D Bracelet for several reasons. For one, I love skulls and covet anything with a skull on it, but this year I’ve also really started to love fine and delicate pieces of jewellery. I used to always wear big chunky items, but the beauty of bracelets like this is you can layer them together, but if it’s too hot to be wearing a thick wedge of bangles, they look elegant and lovely worn alone. This particular bracelet was £9 when I chose it, down from £12, but it’s now only £6 so is even more affordable. Also, if skulls aren’t your thing, the Ziba range has loads of other designs to choose from. I especially like their cute little owl.

In total, my House of Fraser items have a value of £32, but with the online discount they now come in at £18, which is a pretty good saving. I’ll definitely be going back to House of Fraser in the future to look for more affordable basics. Also, why not check out their current range of maxi dresses and bracelets?

Naomi x

*This Jane Norman Maxi Vest Dress and Ziba 3D Skull Bracelet were sent to me on behalf of House of Fraser, for review purposes. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.*

Yesterday was my birthday, and my fiancé and I went out for a lovely birthday/Valentine’s lunch at one of my favourite bars. It might have been freezing cold and chucking it down with rain, but I was determined to wear the beautiful black jersey maxi dress that my mum gave me as a gift, so I layered it up with tights, my Primark faux leather biker jacket, and my Fraas stars & skull wrap.

This wrap is my go-to piece to add a splash of colour to any outfit, and the great thing is it’s reversible, so you can alter the shade to suit your mood. The combination of pink, orange and purple is really pretty, and the stars and skull pattern is right up my street. It’s made of high quality wool too so it’s beautifully soft and warm; perfect for this time of year.

Wet weather also calls for trusty boots and a waterproof bag, so I wore my Grace Denise floral Dr Martens to colour match the scarf, and this stunning Juno patent grab bag from Where Shall I Wander. I used to only ever use shoulder bags, but lately I’ve really started to appreciate classic, structured handbags like this one (although it does come with a detachable shoulder strap). I absolutely adore the contrast of gold on shiny black, and for patent it’s pretty classy looking.

Another thing I love about the bag is how it fastens. It zips along the top but also partly down the sides, so no water can get in whatsoever, but when it’s unzipped it expands so it’s really roomy, with one main compartment and three little pockets. I use it to carry my camera around with me as I don’t have to worry about it getting wet.

If you want to see what I got for my birthday, check back soon for a little haul post!

After a stressful week of work, job interviews and getting caught in the rain, I fancied a bit of a day off today. Granted I had to go food shopping and do some washing, but other than that I’ve had a chilled day of taking photos for my blog/eBay, and writing. A relaxed day calls for a relaxed outfit, so I decided to wear my new sloppy joe jumper, which has to be one of my favourite sale buys of the season.

Here’s a bit of advice from me… never bypass the men’s department just because you’re a woman! I found this little beauty in the men’s section of House of Fraser, and it’s by a brand called Label Lab. This was the only one left and it’s a size XL, but I think it looks great as an oversized slouchy jumper. I’d even wear it as a jumper dress over leather-look leggings. The jumper feels incredibly soft, and is soooo comfy and warm. I love it, and at £14.40, down from £45.00, it was an absolute bargain.

This outfit also features two other bargains from my January Sale haul. The grey skinny jeans were a snip at just £5.00 from Primark. I was actually surprised to find these, as Primark jeans are usually too short for me, but these are long length and fit me perfectly.

I bought this cute little bird skull necklace yesterday whilst in town. I spotted a £1 stand in the doorway of Claire’s and just had to have a look, and picked up this necklace and two others for a total of £3. Not bad!

July’s heat and sun seems to have given way to a much cooler August, so a lot of my summer clothes have taken a back seat and my spring skinny jeans have made a reappearance. Last weekend was particularly rainy, but it’s not quite cold enough for jumpers just yet! As such, I’ve been making compromises, and have invested in a dip hem shirt which is perfect for the recent unsettled weather. The long length and sleeves make it great for those cooler days, but it’s sheer and light so not too warm. I think this is a look that will work well in early Autumn too.

So, here is my go-to outfit for this month’s not-so-summery summer days. I wore it recently to see a band play at a pub, and I’ll be wearing it tonight with comfortable flats for a meal out with my partner.

Well! After weeks of preparation – shopping, cooking and decorating – Christmas Day has been and gone, and we’re all probably a few pounds heavier than we were this time last week! I hope you all had a wonderful time, celebrating in your chosen way with the people you love, and I hope Santa brought you everything you wished for. I personally had a great time! The highlight of Christmas for me is playing games and doing quizzes with my family, and they were definitely done in abundance.

Christmas isn’t just about the presents, but I got some really lovely fashion and beauty related things this year, so I thought I would share them with you today. I also got a lot of chocolate, baking equipment, geeky stuff (including a bat detector which I’ve been wanting for AGES) and books – my friends and relatives know me well!

So, here are some of my Christmas gifts. Apologies for the strange colouring in a few of the photographs… They were taken in bad lighting!

My dad bought me this absolutely beautiful sterling silver Bat Skull necklace. He mentioned that he got it from Etsy and it was handmade in New York by an obviously very talented maker. I instantly fell in love with it when I opened the box, and in my surprise I ended up dropping the box in my mug of tea, woops! I adore bats so I am going to treasure this piece.

I also love hares, so my dad gave me this large pewter moon hare pendant as well. Isn’t it stunning? I need to find a chain for this pronto so I can start wearing it.

The dinosaur at the top was from my sister, Rex from Toy Story was from my fiancé, and the owl was from my fiancé’s sister. Owls, dinosaurs and necklaces are a few of my favourite things, so I was very pleased to receive all three of these beauties.

I received three different perfumes this year, all of which are replacements for perfumes I already have. Cacharel’s Amor Amor (one of my all time favourites), Vera Wang Princess Night, and an Accessorize Gift Set.

I didn’t get much make up this year, but my cousin gave me 17’s Smoky Eye Palette and a few little 17 lip glosses. The red gloss is gorgeous! The guy at the bottom is a rather cute owl lip balm.

How amazing are these?! My fiancé’s sister gave me these Batman nail transfers. I was so excited when I opened them and I cannot wait to give them a go. Definitely expect a review of these soon.

This cat bag from my mum was one of my favourite gifts this year. It’s big and furry and very soft – it needs to stop raining now so I can use it!

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a scarf, gloves or socks, and this year I got all three. The scarf is purple with green skulls and is nice and light – ideal for spring. The socks have squirrels on them, one of my favourite animals, and the rainbow mitten gloves are SO SNUGGLY – win!

Not the best photo in the world but my mum got me a BATMAN ONESIE! Amazing, right? <3

A massive thank you to everyone who spoilt me this year, I am extremely grateful. Did you get anything fashion and beauty related for Christmas this year? I’d love to see your hauls too!

To celebrate BooHoo being included in Fashion Vouchers‘ ‘Top 10 Fashion Money Saving Websites’ list, Fashion Vouchers have launched a new blogger challenge! The challenge is to put together an outfit costing £50 or less using clothes, shoes, accessories or anything else from BooHoo’s website. There will be four winners, and each will win a £50 BooHoo fashion voucher. I love a good bargain so this challenge is right up my street! I’ve entered a couple of other challenges like this before and I always enjoy window shopping lovely items to put together my ideal outfit on a budget, so I thought I would give this one a go too, and here is my entry…

I have been browsing the high street a lot lately for Autumn trends, and have spotted a lot of big slouchy jumpers and grunge style pieces on the shelves, with a mix of Gothic style prints. Lucky for me, I already incorporate these styles into my look anyway, so it seemed only natural to take this route when choosing my outfit for the challenge.

Too often people go for bright, patterned tops and plain bottoms, so I thought I would switch the conventions around a bit. I knew that I wanted to team a simple black jumper with bold bottoms, and the Annie Oversized Vintage Jumper seemed like a good starting point. I chose the red Skull Print Leggings to go with it as they offset the bagginess of the jumper nicely by being skin-tight, and the red adds a gorgeous splash of Autumn colour. The skull print is what initially drew me to this piece as it happens to be one of my favourite clothing prints, and it gives the outfit a hint of Gothic.

I added black Platform Courts to the outfit to show that grunge/Goth can be sexy too, and that the image can be carried through to the evening with some killer, confidence boosting heels. My final addition was the Diamante Skull Chain. I adore big statement pieces of jewellery, and own a few sparkly skull necklaces myself, so when I saw this necklace I just had to include it… It matches the leggings perfectly, and would really stand out on the simple jumper, giving the outfit a girly edge.

My outfit totals exactly £50, which I am very pleased with. This is the kind of thing I will be wearing myself throughout Autumn and Winter, and if I win I may even use the voucher to buy this outfit!

I was contacted about this challenge by email yesterday, but anybody can enter. If you fancy trying your hand at styling on a budget, here are the rules for entering:

How to Enter

1. Head over to BooHoo.com and start piecing together an outfit, making sure you do not exceed your £50 budget (no student discounts or other voucher codes can be used to help you stretch this budget I’m afraid).

2. Write a post about your outfit and this competition on your blog, which includes a link back to our home page www.fashionvouchers.com.